LFC submit stadium planning application

Liverpool Football Club has today submitted its planning application to redevelop Anfield stadium.

The submission of the application follows a major public consultation in which the overwhelming majority of local residents, businesses and fans backed the proposals.

The document submitted to Liverpool City Council today applies for detailed planning consent to expand the Main Stand and outline consent for the expansion of its Anfield Road stand.

The application is expected to be considered by the city's planning committee later this year.

If consent is granted, the proposals would see the capacity of a new Main Stand rise by 8,500, taking it to nearly 21,000 and overall Anfield capacity to around 54,000. The outline proposals for the Anfield Road stand provide for an increase in its capacity of around 4,800 seats, taking the total stadium capacity to 58,800.

Incorporating the iconic club crest into the proposed Main Stand's exterior elevation, the scheme would also include a two-storey podium and a carefully designed cloister which would become the new home for the Hillsborough Memorial.

The Main Stand would open onto a wide public space which has been designed to link the stadium and park while creating an area which is relevant and usable to the local community, particularly on non-matchdays.

As part of its proposed stadium expansion plans, the club has also appointed Tom Doyle, an experienced project director who worked on the London 2012 Olympic programme and more recently the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, to manage the redevelopment should consent be granted.

Managing director, Ian Ayre, said: "When we set out on the journey to explore the feasibility of expanding the stadium, we said the process would be determined by certainty.

"Certainty that we have the support from local residents and businesses for our proposed plans, that we can acquire the land required and that we can navigate the planning landscape.

"Over the past 18 months and as part of this approach, we have worked closely with the community, local residents, Liverpool City Council and Your Housing Group and we are delighted to be able to bring forward a planning application at this stage.

"A lot of good work has been done and we still have more work to achieve certainty; however, the planning application is another step in the right direction."

If planning consent is granted, construction work on the proposed Main Stand could begin early next year and it could be complete in time for the 2016-17 season.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: "The proposed redevelopment of the stadium is a hugely important part of our vision for Anfield - to create a thriving community in which people want to live, work and visit.

"The overall regeneration of the area will see £260m invested and will deliver hundreds of jobs. Liverpool Football Club's proposals for the stadium are a key part of this so today is a really important milestone."

Brian Cronin, chief executive of Your Housing Group, said: "It is brilliant to see the local community backing these proposals and giving their views on how they should be taken forward. We think it's very clear now that a brighter Anfield really is coming."

To be among the first to find out about proposed plans for hospitality in the new Main Stand, click here.